Re: [hlds_linux] Processor choice
I'm going to assume that was ironic. But if you buy a Q6600 which is not really server hardware in the first place, then why not? On Sat, Jan 17, 2009 at 2:43 AM, 1nsane 1nsane...@gmail.com wrote: Yes I'm sure most people overclock their servers. On Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 8:10 PM, Donnie Newlove donnie.newl...@gmail.comwrote: Q6600 is not a bad CPU. With a bit of luck it can be overclocked a lot with no stability issues. On Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 6:29 AM, Jeff Sugar jeffsu...@gmail.com wrote: I and some other admins I speak to have the Q6600. It's been a dream for us and the server hasn't even broken a sweat with the multiple servers we run. I'd say number of tf2 players possible, but we haven't had a problem even with our two tf2 servers entirely full. -Atreus On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 5:29 PM, Bruce Potter gd...@shmoo.com wrote: Howdy, Quick (but I'm sure not simple) question regarding processor choice. I've been running some TF2 servers (and now L4D servers as well) on an AMD-based server with CentOS for a while. Currently have 2 x dual core 2.8GHz previous-gen Opterons in the box. FYI, the machine is on a 100Mbps connection in a datacenter with way more connectivity than that so I'm not at all bandwidth constrained. After much tuning, I'm still not happy with the overall performance. On TF2 every user takes up about 5% CPU on a core. After 12-14 users (depending on the map) I start to use enough CPU (50-80%) that I get nervous about choke and other performance issues. 20 or so would probably be the limit on this hardware. It's not a very popular server so we've never hit the limit. ;) I'm looking at building a second box for more TF2 servers. I've heard anecdotally that Intel systems run SRCDS _much_ better than AMD hardware. At this point I have to believe it b/c while this Opteron system isn't top of the line, it's plenty quick for other purposes I've thrown at the same hardware (database, web, etc). So I'm going to give a run at Intel hardware. The new server I'm building isn't going to be racked, however, so I have some flexibility in hardware options. What I'm trying to assess at this point is the difference in performance between a core 2 duo, an i7, and a xeon proc when it comes to SRCDS. I'm hoping to do a head to head on all these setups in a bit (I've got access to a lot of systems) but I don't have time to test them out right now. Any advice on # of TF2 slots on various hardware ppl have would be very much appreciated. Thanks bruce ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
Re: [hlds_linux] Processor choice
Huh... yet to see anyone recommending AMD. interesting. I guess I'll go intel. I've got a two gen old xeon single core/dual proc box that I think is too old and a few shiny 2xquad core xeon boxes that I think are overkill ;) I need to go find something in the middle ground. I've got enough hardware here to stress test a variety of platforms and try to get some performance numbers out there. Anyone aware of any pseudo-automated way of stress testing a server in a repeatable fashion? I can fire up a few clients and control players automatically using something like AutoIt and use munin (or similiar) to get stats off the server. Has this been done before with SRCDS with publicly available results? bruce On Jan 16, 2009, at 12:38 AM, Cc2iscooL wrote: I'm gonna have to vouch for Intel as well. E8300's on my end. On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 11:29 PM, Jeff Sugar jeffsu...@gmail.com wrote: I and some other admins I speak to have the Q6600. It's been a dream for us and the server hasn't even broken a sweat with the multiple servers we run. I'd say number of tf2 players possible, but we haven't had a problem even with our two tf2 servers entirely full. -Atreus On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 5:29 PM, Bruce Potter gd...@shmoo.com wrote: Howdy, Quick (but I'm sure not simple) question regarding processor choice. I've been running some TF2 servers (and now L4D servers as well) on an AMD-based server with CentOS for a while. Currently have 2 x dual core 2.8GHz previous-gen Opterons in the box. FYI, the machine is on a 100Mbps connection in a datacenter with way more connectivity than that so I'm not at all bandwidth constrained. After much tuning, I'm still not happy with the overall performance. On TF2 every user takes up about 5% CPU on a core. After 12-14 users (depending on the map) I start to use enough CPU (50-80%) that I get nervous about choke and other performance issues. 20 or so would probably be the limit on this hardware. It's not a very popular server so we've never hit the limit. ;) I'm looking at building a second box for more TF2 servers. I've heard anecdotally that Intel systems run SRCDS _much_ better than AMD hardware. At this point I have to believe it b/c while this Opteron system isn't top of the line, it's plenty quick for other purposes I've thrown at the same hardware (database, web, etc). So I'm going to give a run at Intel hardware. The new server I'm building isn't going to be racked, however, so I have some flexibility in hardware options. What I'm trying to assess at this point is the difference in performance between a core 2 duo, an i7, and a xeon proc when it comes to SRCDS. I'm hoping to do a head to head on all these setups in a bit (I've got access to a lot of systems) but I don't have time to test them out right now. Any advice on # of TF2 slots on various hardware ppl have would be very much appreciated. Thanks bruce ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
Re: [hlds_linux] Processor choice
If you want something in-between your old Noconas and the new Clovertown/Harpertown, check out the i7's from Intel. Bruce Potter wrote: Huh... yet to see anyone recommending AMD. interesting. I guess I'll go intel. I've got a two gen old xeon single core/dual proc box that I think is too old and a few shiny 2xquad core xeon boxes that I think are overkill ;) I need to go find something in the middle ground. I've got enough hardware here to stress test a variety of platforms and try to get some performance numbers out there. Anyone aware of any pseudo-automated way of stress testing a server in a repeatable fashion? I can fire up a few clients and control players automatically using something like AutoIt and use munin (or similiar) to get stats off the server. Has this been done before with SRCDS with publicly available results? bruce ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
Re: [hlds_linux] Processor choice
Q6600 is not a bad CPU. With a bit of luck it can be overclocked a lot with no stability issues. On Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 6:29 AM, Jeff Sugar jeffsu...@gmail.com wrote: I and some other admins I speak to have the Q6600. It's been a dream for us and the server hasn't even broken a sweat with the multiple servers we run. I'd say number of tf2 players possible, but we haven't had a problem even with our two tf2 servers entirely full. -Atreus On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 5:29 PM, Bruce Potter gd...@shmoo.com wrote: Howdy, Quick (but I'm sure not simple) question regarding processor choice. I've been running some TF2 servers (and now L4D servers as well) on an AMD-based server with CentOS for a while. Currently have 2 x dual core 2.8GHz previous-gen Opterons in the box. FYI, the machine is on a 100Mbps connection in a datacenter with way more connectivity than that so I'm not at all bandwidth constrained. After much tuning, I'm still not happy with the overall performance. On TF2 every user takes up about 5% CPU on a core. After 12-14 users (depending on the map) I start to use enough CPU (50-80%) that I get nervous about choke and other performance issues. 20 or so would probably be the limit on this hardware. It's not a very popular server so we've never hit the limit. ;) I'm looking at building a second box for more TF2 servers. I've heard anecdotally that Intel systems run SRCDS _much_ better than AMD hardware. At this point I have to believe it b/c while this Opteron system isn't top of the line, it's plenty quick for other purposes I've thrown at the same hardware (database, web, etc). So I'm going to give a run at Intel hardware. The new server I'm building isn't going to be racked, however, so I have some flexibility in hardware options. What I'm trying to assess at this point is the difference in performance between a core 2 duo, an i7, and a xeon proc when it comes to SRCDS. I'm hoping to do a head to head on all these setups in a bit (I've got access to a lot of systems) but I don't have time to test them out right now. Any advice on # of TF2 slots on various hardware ppl have would be very much appreciated. Thanks bruce ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
Re: [hlds_linux] Processor choice
Yes I'm sure most people overclock their servers. On Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 8:10 PM, Donnie Newlove donnie.newl...@gmail.comwrote: Q6600 is not a bad CPU. With a bit of luck it can be overclocked a lot with no stability issues. On Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 6:29 AM, Jeff Sugar jeffsu...@gmail.com wrote: I and some other admins I speak to have the Q6600. It's been a dream for us and the server hasn't even broken a sweat with the multiple servers we run. I'd say number of tf2 players possible, but we haven't had a problem even with our two tf2 servers entirely full. -Atreus On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 5:29 PM, Bruce Potter gd...@shmoo.com wrote: Howdy, Quick (but I'm sure not simple) question regarding processor choice. I've been running some TF2 servers (and now L4D servers as well) on an AMD-based server with CentOS for a while. Currently have 2 x dual core 2.8GHz previous-gen Opterons in the box. FYI, the machine is on a 100Mbps connection in a datacenter with way more connectivity than that so I'm not at all bandwidth constrained. After much tuning, I'm still not happy with the overall performance. On TF2 every user takes up about 5% CPU on a core. After 12-14 users (depending on the map) I start to use enough CPU (50-80%) that I get nervous about choke and other performance issues. 20 or so would probably be the limit on this hardware. It's not a very popular server so we've never hit the limit. ;) I'm looking at building a second box for more TF2 servers. I've heard anecdotally that Intel systems run SRCDS _much_ better than AMD hardware. At this point I have to believe it b/c while this Opteron system isn't top of the line, it's plenty quick for other purposes I've thrown at the same hardware (database, web, etc). So I'm going to give a run at Intel hardware. The new server I'm building isn't going to be racked, however, so I have some flexibility in hardware options. What I'm trying to assess at this point is the difference in performance between a core 2 duo, an i7, and a xeon proc when it comes to SRCDS. I'm hoping to do a head to head on all these setups in a bit (I've got access to a lot of systems) but I don't have time to test them out right now. Any advice on # of TF2 slots on various hardware ppl have would be very much appreciated. Thanks bruce ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
[hlds_linux] Processor choice
Howdy, Quick (but I'm sure not simple) question regarding processor choice. I've been running some TF2 servers (and now L4D servers as well) on an AMD-based server with CentOS for a while. Currently have 2 x dual core 2.8GHz previous-gen Opterons in the box. FYI, the machine is on a 100Mbps connection in a datacenter with way more connectivity than that so I'm not at all bandwidth constrained. After much tuning, I'm still not happy with the overall performance. On TF2 every user takes up about 5% CPU on a core. After 12-14 users (depending on the map) I start to use enough CPU (50-80%) that I get nervous about choke and other performance issues. 20 or so would probably be the limit on this hardware. It's not a very popular server so we've never hit the limit. ;) I'm looking at building a second box for more TF2 servers. I've heard anecdotally that Intel systems run SRCDS _much_ better than AMD hardware. At this point I have to believe it b/c while this Opteron system isn't top of the line, it's plenty quick for other purposes I've thrown at the same hardware (database, web, etc). So I'm going to give a run at Intel hardware. The new server I'm building isn't going to be racked, however, so I have some flexibility in hardware options. What I'm trying to assess at this point is the difference in performance between a core 2 duo, an i7, and a xeon proc when it comes to SRCDS. I'm hoping to do a head to head on all these setups in a bit (I've got access to a lot of systems) but I don't have time to test them out right now. Any advice on # of TF2 slots on various hardware ppl have would be very much appreciated. Thanks bruce ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
Re: [hlds_linux] Processor choice
At 08:29 PM 1/15/2009, Bruce Potter wrote: Howdy, Quick (but I'm sure not simple) question regarding processor choice. I've been running some TF2 servers (and now L4D servers as well) on an AMD-based server with CentOS for a while. Currently have 2 x dual core 2.8GHz previous-gen Opterons in the box. FYI, the machine is on a 100Mbps connection in a datacenter with way more connectivity than that so I'm not at all bandwidth constrained. After much tuning, I'm still not happy with the overall performance. On TF2 every user takes up about 5% CPU on a core. After 12-14 users (depending on the map) I start to use enough CPU (50-80%) that I get nervous about choke and other performance issues. 20 or so would probably be the limit on this hardware. It's not a very popular server so we've never hit the limit. ;) I'm looking at building a second box for more TF2 servers. I've heard anecdotally that Intel systems run SRCDS _much_ better than AMD hardware. At this point I have to believe it b/c while this Opteron system isn't top of the line, it's plenty quick for other purposes I've thrown at the same hardware (database, web, etc). So I'm going to give a run at Intel hardware. Opterons have NUMA and other tricks. What hurts them is the TSC skews. Some older opterons lack HPET on Linux (AMI chipsets). The new server I'm building isn't going to be racked, however, so I have some flexibility in hardware options. What I'm trying to assess at this point is the difference in performance between a core 2 duo, an i7, and a xeon proc when it comes to SRCDS. I'm hoping to do a head to head on all these setups in a bit (I've got access to a lot of systems) but I don't have time to test them out right now. Any advice on # of TF2 slots on various hardware ppl have would be very much appreciated. Turn OFF hires timers. Set HZ back to 250, because the game doesn't require ultra accurate timers at all. That should reduce CPU usage for you. IIRC TF2 only requires a 30hz clock, so 250 is better overall. Lowering HZ also reduces cacheline ping pongs, timer interrupt overhead, and a few other things.. ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
Re: [hlds_linux] Processor choice
At 08:29 PM 1/15/2009, Bruce Potter wrote: Howdy, Quick (but I'm sure not simple) question regarding processor choice. I've been running some TF2 servers (and now L4D servers as well) on an AMD-based server with CentOS for a while. Currently have 2 x dual core 2.8GHz previous-gen Opterons in the box. FYI, the machine is on a 100Mbps connection in a datacenter with way more connectivity than that so I'm not at all bandwidth constrained. After much tuning, I'm still not happy with the overall performance. On TF2 every user takes up about 5% CPU on a core. After 12-14 users (depending on the map) I start to use enough CPU (50-80%) that I get nervous about choke and other performance issues. 20 or so would probably be the limit on this hardware. It's not a very popular server so we've never hit the limit. ;) I'm looking at building a second box for more TF2 servers. I've heard anecdotally that Intel systems run SRCDS _much_ better than AMD hardware. At this point I have to believe it b/c while this Opteron system isn't top of the line, it's plenty quick for other purposes I've thrown at the same hardware (database, web, etc). So I'm going to give a run at Intel hardware. Opterons have NUMA and other tricks. What hurts them is the TSC skews. Some older opterons lack HPET on Linux (AMI chipsets). The new server I'm building isn't going to be racked, however, so I have some flexibility in hardware options. What I'm trying to assess at this point is the difference in performance between a core 2 duo, an i7, and a xeon proc when it comes to SRCDS. I'm hoping to do a head to head on all these setups in a bit (I've got access to a lot of systems) but I don't have time to test them out right now. Any advice on # of TF2 slots on various hardware ppl have would be very much appreciated. Turn OFF hires timers. Set HZ back to 250, because the game doesn't require ultra accurate timers at all. That should reduce CPU usage for you. IIRC TF2 only requires a 30hz clock, so 250 is better overall. Lowering HZ also reduces cacheline ping pongs, timer interrupt overhead, and a few other things.. ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
Re: [hlds_linux] Processor choice
Intel runs SRCDS more efficiently. I still believe AMD runs SRCDS better (as in more stable, better performance) but the resource cost easily favors Intel (at least from my experience...on *nix). J. Laws Bruce Potter wrote: Howdy, Quick (but I'm sure not simple) question regarding processor choice. I've been running some TF2 servers (and now L4D servers as well) on an AMD-based server with CentOS for a while. Currently have 2 x dual core 2.8GHz previous-gen Opterons in the box. FYI, the machine is on a 100Mbps connection in a datacenter with way more connectivity than that so I'm not at all bandwidth constrained. After much tuning, I'm still not happy with the overall performance. On TF2 every user takes up about 5% CPU on a core. After 12-14 users (depending on the map) I start to use enough CPU (50-80%) that I get nervous about choke and other performance issues. 20 or so would probably be the limit on this hardware. It's not a very popular server so we've never hit the limit. ;) I'm looking at building a second box for more TF2 servers. I've heard anecdotally that Intel systems run SRCDS _much_ better than AMD hardware. At this point I have to believe it b/c while this Opteron system isn't top of the line, it's plenty quick for other purposes I've thrown at the same hardware (database, web, etc). So I'm going to give a run at Intel hardware. The new server I'm building isn't going to be racked, however, so I have some flexibility in hardware options. What I'm trying to assess at this point is the difference in performance between a core 2 duo, an i7, and a xeon proc when it comes to SRCDS. I'm hoping to do a head to head on all these setups in a bit (I've got access to a lot of systems) but I don't have time to test them out right now. Any advice on # of TF2 slots on various hardware ppl have would be very much appreciated. Thanks bruce ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
Re: [hlds_linux] Processor choice
I and some other admins I speak to have the Q6600. It's been a dream for us and the server hasn't even broken a sweat with the multiple servers we run. I'd say number of tf2 players possible, but we haven't had a problem even with our two tf2 servers entirely full. -Atreus On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 5:29 PM, Bruce Potter gd...@shmoo.com wrote: Howdy, Quick (but I'm sure not simple) question regarding processor choice. I've been running some TF2 servers (and now L4D servers as well) on an AMD-based server with CentOS for a while. Currently have 2 x dual core 2.8GHz previous-gen Opterons in the box. FYI, the machine is on a 100Mbps connection in a datacenter with way more connectivity than that so I'm not at all bandwidth constrained. After much tuning, I'm still not happy with the overall performance. On TF2 every user takes up about 5% CPU on a core. After 12-14 users (depending on the map) I start to use enough CPU (50-80%) that I get nervous about choke and other performance issues. 20 or so would probably be the limit on this hardware. It's not a very popular server so we've never hit the limit. ;) I'm looking at building a second box for more TF2 servers. I've heard anecdotally that Intel systems run SRCDS _much_ better than AMD hardware. At this point I have to believe it b/c while this Opteron system isn't top of the line, it's plenty quick for other purposes I've thrown at the same hardware (database, web, etc). So I'm going to give a run at Intel hardware. The new server I'm building isn't going to be racked, however, so I have some flexibility in hardware options. What I'm trying to assess at this point is the difference in performance between a core 2 duo, an i7, and a xeon proc when it comes to SRCDS. I'm hoping to do a head to head on all these setups in a bit (I've got access to a lot of systems) but I don't have time to test them out right now. Any advice on # of TF2 slots on various hardware ppl have would be very much appreciated. Thanks bruce ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
Re: [hlds_linux] Processor choice
I'm gonna have to vouch for Intel as well. E8300's on my end. On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 11:29 PM, Jeff Sugar jeffsu...@gmail.com wrote: I and some other admins I speak to have the Q6600. It's been a dream for us and the server hasn't even broken a sweat with the multiple servers we run. I'd say number of tf2 players possible, but we haven't had a problem even with our two tf2 servers entirely full. -Atreus On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 5:29 PM, Bruce Potter gd...@shmoo.com wrote: Howdy, Quick (but I'm sure not simple) question regarding processor choice. I've been running some TF2 servers (and now L4D servers as well) on an AMD-based server with CentOS for a while. Currently have 2 x dual core 2.8GHz previous-gen Opterons in the box. FYI, the machine is on a 100Mbps connection in a datacenter with way more connectivity than that so I'm not at all bandwidth constrained. After much tuning, I'm still not happy with the overall performance. On TF2 every user takes up about 5% CPU on a core. After 12-14 users (depending on the map) I start to use enough CPU (50-80%) that I get nervous about choke and other performance issues. 20 or so would probably be the limit on this hardware. It's not a very popular server so we've never hit the limit. ;) I'm looking at building a second box for more TF2 servers. I've heard anecdotally that Intel systems run SRCDS _much_ better than AMD hardware. At this point I have to believe it b/c while this Opteron system isn't top of the line, it's plenty quick for other purposes I've thrown at the same hardware (database, web, etc). So I'm going to give a run at Intel hardware. The new server I'm building isn't going to be racked, however, so I have some flexibility in hardware options. What I'm trying to assess at this point is the difference in performance between a core 2 duo, an i7, and a xeon proc when it comes to SRCDS. I'm hoping to do a head to head on all these setups in a bit (I've got access to a lot of systems) but I don't have time to test them out right now. Any advice on # of TF2 slots on various hardware ppl have would be very much appreciated. Thanks bruce ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
